Unemployment up but medical field hiring

Friday

Sep 26, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 26, 2008 at 8:14 AM

Health care continues to hire. A state report released Thursday found unemployment was up across Illinois in August, including in the Springfield area, with health care the notable exception for the local market. The local rate of 6.6 percent was up from 5 percent a year ago.

Tim Landis

Health care continues to hire.

A state report released Thursday found unemployment was up across Illinois in August, including in the Springfield area, with health care the notable exception for the local market.
The local rate of 6.6 percent was up from 5 percent a year ago.

Employment was down in nearly every category — including state government, manufacturing, finance and technology — over the past year. But the 15,900 people at work in the local health-care industry was up by 200.

That compares to 17,500 people employed by state government in Springfield.

“There’s no question that all the major medical institutions are in a constant look for folks in almost every job category,” said Michael Boer, president of the Mid-Illinois Medical District, which includes Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Memorial Medical Center and St. John’s Hospital.

The district was formed in 2003 to encourage expansion of Springfield’s medical industry.

“I don’t think people realize how big the medical school really is. One of the things they don’t understand is the diversity of jobs. They just see the word ‘medicine,’” said Kay Titchenal, executive director of human resources at the SIU School of Medicine, where employment is more than 1,500 and climbing.

Employment manager Tammy Lawrick said competition is intense for health-care workers, especially in areas such as nursing and clinical technicians.

“We have hiring every week. It’s largely due to growth, but there’s some turnover as well, so we are constantly recruiting,” said Lawrick, who added that jobs range from physician assistants to groundskeepers.

“It’s all of that support staff,” she said.

Boer said most industry forecasts are for continued strong demand in health care, adding that one of the primary goals of the medical district is to make sure workers are available through local training programs.

“It’s somewhat ironic that people are out there for lack of a job, when there’s so many openings in what is a pretty well-compensated area,” he said.

Retail-industry hiring also was up by 300 jobs in the past year, but state employment representatives said that resulted almost entirely from the opening of a Wal-Mart supercenter this summer.